Downtown Norwich gas main replacement under way

It’s not exactly the Big Dig, but Main Street will look dramatically different over the next several months to accommodate the second phase of a multi-million project that will deliver enhanced gas service to one of the city’s busiest areas.

It’s not exactly the Big Dig, but Main Street will look dramatically different over the next several months to accommodate the second phase of a multi-million project that will deliver enhanced gas service to one of the city’s busiest areas.

“The whole downtown is going to be brand new,” Norwich Public Utilities foreman John Davis said on Thursday as pipefitters Dan Bohara, Mark Jones and Phil Papineau bent over a black and yellow pipe about 3 feet below him.

Between now and August, NPU will lay down about half a mile of new gas lines in a $690,000 system upgrade that began last summer around City Hall. This year, crews will make their way westward on Main Street. Chris LaRose, NPU’s operations manager, said the high-tech polyethylene tubing will replace antiquated metal pipes that are nearly 100 years old.

It’s part of an ongoing upgrade to lines across NPU’s service area, and one of the main reasons officials announced the establishment of a “capital tracker” earlier this month, so customers can see how rate revenues are being used.

“This is something we’re doing every single year to update our system and make it better,” LaRose said.

Existing customers will benefit from higher flow volumes, and the work paves the way for future demand on the network by businesses that may occupy now vacant downtown properties.

“NPU has made an effort to target areas of the city that have the highest need,” he said. “Downtown has the highest value from a grand list standpoint, and is also underperforming. This is an economic boon.”

LaRose said the cast-iron metal pipes will be sealed off and buried — standard practice in the industry. Once the new lines are installed, NPU officials will switch customers over individually before they’re energized.

And motorists shouldn’t expect any significant delays as the project progresses.

“When we get into crucial areas, we may do things off hours. We’re going to judge that by how the traffic flow is,” LaRose said.

City resident Patty Small, who frequents downtown, said she was glad to see NPU there.

“It’s progress, and progress that supports the city’s downtown is what we need to make,” she said.